


Wake the Sleeping Dragon

by Welfycat



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Community: kink_bingo, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-03
Updated: 2012-06-03
Packaged: 2017-11-06 18:53:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/422043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Welfycat/pseuds/Welfycat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce spent the first six months with the Avengers being prodded, cajoled, nudged and generally bothered by Tony. He discovered he really didn't mind so much, most of the time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wake the Sleeping Dragon

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Kink Bingo Round Four, Prompt: Danger  
> Content Notes: Brief mention of suicidal behavior. R.  
> Author Notes: General spoilers for the movie as a whole.

At first Bruce had thought that this was Tony's ridiculous plan to show that Bruce wasn't as dangerous as Bruce knew all too well he was. Most anyone who knew about Bruce's _condition_ had taken measures to avoid startling him or arguing with him. They kept their distance, their eyes worried and their smiles nervous, and Bruce had grown used to being alone. He kept his mind to himself, did what he could to help those around him who didn't know the secret lurking inside of him, and he resigned himself to the fact that he was a dangerous monster living in sheep's clothing. Those on the street didn't know what walked among them and Bruce did his best to ensure that they wouldn't have to find out.

Tony, from that very first meeting, had made it clear that he didn't consider the other guy to be a threat to them. He stood in Bruce's personal space and leaned against him when reaching to get something from across the counter as they'd worked inside the lab on the Helicarrier. Bruce had thought that maybe Tony had forgot in the chaos of the problems surrounding them, but even after he'd seen the other guy destroy parts of the Helicarrier and then do some fairly massive damage to the alien invasion force, Tony hadn't seem bothered. He nudged Bruce with his elbow or his shoulder, he stood right against him while they were waiting for coffee, and every time Bruce drew away he followed with that same perpetually amused smile.

Then Tony had insisted that they all move into Stark Tower, because what better place for a bunch of dangerous and quite possibly crazy superheroes than in the middle of Manhattan surrounded by literally millions of people. Bruce had resisted, shaking his head and disappearing into the bowels of the New York SHIELD Headquarters every time Tony approached him. As much as Bruce hated being in the small underground rooms of SHIELD, where it felt very much like the imprisonment he'd been trying to avoid, at least here he could be contained if there was an accident. Bruce had seen Stark Tower, the elegant building full of breakable glass walls and filled with delicate, fragile humans. He couldn't endanger people like that, not in good conscience. Already he couldn't look in the mirrors, fearing what he'd see looking back.

In the end it had taken Clint persuading Bruce to come out for an evening and being hustled back to Stark Tower directly after; Clint who was just as fearless as Tony when it came to dealing with the other guy. Bruce had seen footage of Clint approaching the other guy during battle without any hints of hesitation.

Tony had taken him down, well below the marked basement levels on the elevators, and had shown him the safe room he'd built for the other guy. The entire time Tony had said that it was just in case and he didn't ever expect to need it. When Bruce had pointed out that a room all the way down here wasn't going to do any good if he lost it on the upper levels where the living areas were, Tony had only said that the elevator was big enough for Bruce and that he'd just have to learn to trust that the team could corral him if necessary. Bruce had reluctantly agreed to move in, because how could he really say no when Tony was looking at him with exaggerated sad eyes and saying that Captain America would feel so much better if the team was all together.

The first time Tony had thrown the TV remote across the room at him, knowing full well that Bruce had his back turned and wouldn't be able to catch it, Bruce had changed his mind and decided that Tony was just suicidal. Bruce understood that, he'd been there, and after getting a glimpse into Tony's personal life he could get an idea as to why Tony would feel that way. Bruce strengthened his resolve, he couldn't stand the idea that he might hurt one of his teammates, even if they'd been literally asking for it.

When Bruce had finally gathered the courage to apologize to Natasha for his behavior on the Helicarrier she'd only waved him off. He'd persisted, reminding her that he'd nearly killed her, and she'd come close and placed one of her hands over his. "I've already told Clint this and I'm not saying it again, so listen. Things happen that are beyond our control, that's part of life. What we do when we have control, that's what matters. You came back and saved lives, even when you could have gone into hiding again. That's the only thing I care about."

Bruce had gone and sat out on the roof that night, looking down over the rebuilding efforts in the city, and for once Tony didn't join him.

A few months later he had endured Tony shouting unexpectedly, being jostled in the hallway, being snuck up on in his lab, and Tony lighting the stove on fire. Tony had claimed that the last one was completely on accident, but they both were scientists and perfectly capable in the kitchen. Nevertheless Tony had spent the next three days somehow managing to make the stove 'fire-proof', which when having Thor and Clint attempting to cook wasn't such a bad idea anyway. Bruce no longer had any idea what to think about Tony's motivations, because nothing from reckless curiosity to bizarre self-esteem therapy seemed to fit all the facts. Bruce, as a scientist with spreadsheets and data and everything, was completely stumped.

"Why are you doing this?" Bruce asked one late Wednesday evening. He and Tony were in Tony's lab, working pressed side to side as Bruce adjusted sensors and tracked data and Tony rewrote sections of the programming that had given them the buggy output.

"Because I don't want to die the next time a portal to another dimension suddenly springs into existence," Tony said absently without looking up from his work.

Bruce shook his head and used his elbow to give Tony a gentle push. Only six months ago it would have been unthinkable to do that to someone even in jest. Six months ago no one would have willingly stood that close to Bruce. "I meant this. Your lab is huge and has multiple work stations. You follow me around, everywhere, now that I think about it. Last week you were sitting on my bedroom floor when I got out of the shower."

"I like being around you. Is that a crime?" Tony asked. Apparently that was enough to now warrant at least part of Tony's attention as he took his hands away from the interface and turned to Bruce.

Bruce found himself breathing deeply and slowly as Tony leaned in until their faces were scant inches apart. "Depends on why, I suppose," Bruce said, his voice coming out like it had gotten stuck somewhere in his chest.

"Maybe because I've wanted to do this," Tony said, moving in those last few inches to place his mouth against Bruce's. When he leaned back, his dark eyes blinking rapidly as he watched Bruce. "Well, is that a crime?"

Bruce couldn't remember the last time he'd been kissed by someone who knew what he was. "Only if you stop," he said, half focused on keeping his heart rate steady even as he dug his fingers into his thighs.

Tony grinned. "Well, I wouldn't want to commit crime. Steve gets all pissy when we break the law."

"Let's not talk about Steve right now," Bruce said, taking a chance and leaning back in for another kiss. His hands were trembling despite his efforts to stop them and Tony finally moved back to kiss Bruce. Fifteen minutes later they were both on the floor, their clothes disheveled despite the fact that they'd made no progress in undressing each other.

"Next time we should at least try to make it to the couch," Tony said as he blinked up at the ceiling. Bruce felt something deep in his shoulders and chest relax and unwind at Tony saying he wanted there to be a next time.

Making out, tumbling around on the floor, stealing kisses on the sly when they were both racing in opposite directions, none of this seemed to change Tony's on-going campaign to bring out the other guy. If anything, it only seemed to escalate it. Tony seemed to go out of his way to pull Bruce into places where they could likely get caught, which gave Bruce no end of grief but Tony seemed to be thrilled by it so Bruce didn't mind so much. Tony had actually slapped Bruce on the butt one morning when the entire team was gathered in the kitchen, his eyes and grin wide as he waited for Bruce to respond. The only response in the room had been Clint's "oh my god, you guys are fucking, aren't you?" and Bruce was reasonably sure that the only person in the room who had flushed redder than him was Steve.

Despite what Clint had said, Bruce was very aware of the fact that he and Tony were in fact, not fucking. Not really. Frottage and hand-jobs were all very well and honestly on most occasions Tony was too impatient for even the suggestion of anything more, but Bruce was left wondering if he'd finally found the one barrier even Tony was too sensible to cross. Make out with a monster, get off with him, sure. Fuck him, get that close and personal, that was something else. Bruce reminded himself that he was lucky, so very lucky to be living with people who accepted all of him and to have someone who wanted to be close to him at all. If sex was off the table, then that was nothing new. The self pep talk didn't actually seem to do much good and Bruce spent the next two days pulling a Tony Stark and shut himself in his own lab to get some work done.

Tony let Bruce sulk for forty-eight hours before luring him out with promises of takeout from their favorite Chinese place that was all the way across the city and whatever movie Bruce wanted to put on the big TV. Bruce had agreed because there were very few circumstances that he'd say no to Dim Sum and being put out about his sex life was not one of them. Thirty minutes later, after the food had disappeared and when they were at the relatively boring talking part of _The Matrix_ Tony latched onto Bruce and they rolled down onto the floor. Even when they actually made it to a couch or a bed, they were terrible at remaining on it.

Bruce found himself on his back, gazing up at Tony as he ground against him. "Shirt, shirt," Tony said as he pushed ineffectively at Bruce's shirt and after a few moments of combined efforts they managed to get both their shirts off. Bruce hadn't had this much trouble undressing himself for as long as he could remember.

Moments later Tony was splayed against him and there was a sharp sting as he felt Tony's teeth against his shoulder. "Did you just bite me?" Bruce asked. Not that he minded, because apparently his body absolutely did not mind in the slightest, but he hadn't been expecting it.

"Yep," Tony said, moving to Bruce's neck and biting down just above Bruce's collar bone. Bruce's hips jolted up against Tony's weight and they both rubbed frantically against each other until Tony released Bruce's skin. Tony continued to work over Bruce's chest and arms, biting, pinching and scraping his short, blunt nails over Bruce's skin. "Are you close?" Tony asked as he pulled back enough to look Bruce over.

Bruce blinked as he tried to slow his breathing and process the unexpected question. He moved under Tony so that Tony could feel that he was hard and eager. "What does it feel like?"

Tony looked confused for a brief moment. "I didn't mean," he started to say and then cut himself off to return his mouth to Bruce's neck.

Bruce took a sudden breath, partially in response to the nip of Tony's teeth followed by the gentle lap of his tongue, but mostly from the realization of what Tony had meant. He took advantage of the fact that Tony was distracted and rolled them so that Bruce was straddling Tony and using his hands to pin Tony's wrists to the thick carpet.

"Nice," Tony said as he stared up at Bruce and tried to thrust up to meet Bruce's groin.

"Were you seriously trying to get me to change? Is that why you seduced me?" Bruce asked, almost shaking with the idea that this could just be some kind of Tony Stark Science Experiment.

Tony's slightly breathless but still pleased expression didn't change. "Not an experiment, and if I recall it wasn't so much seduction as it was a science induced make-out. Our minds are too awesome to let that go to waste. You're close now, the closest I've seen like this."

"Why, Tony?" Bruce asked, his heart thundering in his chest as he fought to stay in control. "Why would you want that?"

"It's like falling from space," Tony said and grinned again, his pupils huge as he panted. "Like pulling the trigger and not knowing if there's a bullet in the barrel."

Bruce stared, his confusion mingling with his rage enough that he was able to easily back away from the edge. He jolted when Tony broke from his hold and rolled them back to their original position on the floor next to the couch.

Tony thrust frantically against him a handful of times before shuddering in orgasm and dropping his head to Bruce's chest. "Just like that. I want so much to suck on you right now, you have no idea."

"I have the hardest time arguing with your suggestions," Bruce admitted as he let his head fall back on the carpet and shivered as Tony easily undid Bruce's pants and peeled them down with a minimum of assistance. A scant minute later and Bruce came in what was one of the most spectacular orgasms he could remember, though he was probably biased by the feel of Tony nuzzling against his thigh. His mind started to race, thinking of all the ways he could work with this as he tangled his fingers in Tony's hair.


End file.
